What’s new at Candid (July 2020)

Since my last “What’s new at Candid” update, George Floyd’s death at the hands of police and the ensuing uprisings have sparked significant reckoning with racial justice in our sector. At Candid, this meant affirming our commitment to racial equity, accelerating updates to our racial equity webpage, and taking time to pause and share together. We have also published several related blogs, which are included in the “Candid insights” section below. 

As we shared in our June 4 statement, putting an end to systemic racism is going to require nonprofits and foundations to step up like never before. The only way for our sector to do more is to recognize where and how we have failed to do enough.

This is a journey, not a checkbox. We’re here to help on your journey while we ourselves continue on ours. And of course, all of our other work continues, too. We just released the latest human rights funding data, and in the next two weeks, you’ll see new research from us on peacebuilding. We’ll also unveil our 2030 vision to you soon. Meanwhile, on June 3, I moderated a conversation featuring Brad Smith, T. Sylvester John, and Zohra Zori, who reviewed Candid’s first year and discussed what lies ahead. To learn more, watch the recording, and read the latest below.  

What’s new at Candid: Highlights 

• As struggles with COVID-19 persist, we continue to update our resources on the pandemic.
• On May 12, we welcomed four new trustees to Candid’s board: Naila Farouky, CEO of the Arab Foundations Forum; Rosa Gallego, director of International Relations for  Asociación Española de Fundaciones; Matt Gee, co-founder and CEO of BrightHive; and Rhett Mabry, president of The Duke Endowment.
• Several Candid employees played key roles in PEAK Grantmaking’s month-long virtual conference. Supriya Kumar co-presented a keynote address with Tanya Gulliver-Garcia of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy that shred insights on philanthropy’s response to COVID-19. Janet Camarena participated in “Power and Light: Enlightened Approaches for Accountable and Equitable Grantmaking” with representatives from the Durfee Foundation, The California Endowment, and RespectAbility. I got in on the action, too; I had the privilege of moderating a conversation between Carly Bad Heart Bull of Native Ways Federation and Tim Fox of Calgary Foundation in the closing keynote, “Building Equity for Native Communities Through Collaboration.” Recordings of these sessions are available through the PEAK Grantmaking website. PEAK Organization Members and PEAK2020 registrants have complimentary access, and materials are available to others for a fee.
• Ivonne Simms launched Candid’s Leadership Circle for Emerging Development Professionals. Originally, this was to be an in-person program, but the pandemic forced us to offer it virtually instead.
• Our free virtual pandemic-related webinars have been big hits! More than 3,424 people attended “Shifting Your Events Online During COVID-19” on May 20. It is our most attended webinar to date. You can link to recordings of this webinar and the others in the series from the “Webinars” section of our coronavirus pop-up page.
• In partnership with the MacArthur Foundation and Lever for Change, we launched the Solutions Bank on June 22. Comprising more than 450 proposals that were submitted as part of MacArthur’s  100&Change  competition, the Solutions Bank demonstrates how a proposal marketplace—which would save time for both grantmakers and grantees—could work.  

Find out more about our projects. 

Candid insights 

• Larry McGill, “The forgotten sector?” Candid Blog, May 19, 2020. 
• Melissa Sines and Janet Camarena, “COVID-19 Response: Which Changes in Grantmaking Practice Should Be Here to Stay?” Transparency Talk, May 19, 2020. 
• Carly Hare, Kelly Brown, C. Davis Parchment, & Melissa Sines, “Action & Accountability: Why Demographic Data Matters Now,” Transparency Talk, May 28, 2020. 
• Jacob Harold, “We Can’t Let This Crisis Go To Waste: Lessons for Philanthropy from Disaster Giving,” The Chronicle of Philanthropy, June 2, 2020. 
• Aleda Gagarin, “4 Tips to Help Your Nonprofit Best Navigate the New Normal,” Eye on FDO, June 2, 2020. 
• Anna Koob, “Five things that didn’t make it into the latest key facts”, June 2, 2020 
• Jacob Harold, “Fragility and resilience: the landscape of nonprofit financial health in the U.S.,” Candid Blog, June 8, 2020.
• Holly Ivel and Jen Bokoff, “Matching your donation with your intention—why information matters,” Candid Blog, June 18, 2020. 
• Teleangé Thomas, “A long walk from charity to justice,” Candid Blog, June 19, 2020. 
• Sarina Dayal and Grace Sato, “Nonprofits advancing racial equity,” June 29, 2020. 

Follow us on Twitter  to hear the latest when it happens. 

Candid in the news 

• Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson and Courtney Weaver, “US Companies Flood Civil Rights Groups With Donations,” Financial Times, June 7, 2020. 
• James B. Stewart and Nicholas Kulish, “Leading Foundations Pledge to Give More, Hoping to Upend Philanthropy,” The New York Times, June 10, 2020. 
• Erika Beras, “With Companies Matching Social Justice Donations, Employees Are Crowdsourcing to Increase Contributions,” Marketplace, June 12, 2020. 
• Theodore Schleifer, “The Billionaire Founder of Netflix is Giving $120 Million to Black Colleges,” Vox, June 17, 2020. 
• Alex Daniels, “Nonprofits Set Aside Juneteenth as a Day to Reflect, Learn, Take Action,” The Chronicle of Philanthropy, June 18, 2020. 
• Mae Anderson, “Racial Equality Groups Grapple With Surge in Donations,” Associated Press, June 24, 2020. 

Visit our press page  for more news coverage of Candid.